Abstract: The dryland areas are most affected by the impact of climate change. Ecosystem sustainability and food security in dryland areas are two hot issues of the international concern. The Eleventh International Dryland Development Conference was jointly organized at Beijing in March，2013 by ten units such as the international land development committee（IDDC），the Chinese Academy of Sciences and so on. The main theme of this conference was food and energy security in dryland areas under climate changes and there are 114 presentations in all，in which the sustainable management of ecosystems in dryland areas is the most prominent. This paper summarized the main contents of the conference，that cover many aspects in dryland area under climate changes like global climate change and its impact on different dryland ecosystems，sustainable use of water resources in dry areas，sustainable land use and management in dry areas，sustainable range management under global climate change，stress physiology：drought，heat，cold and salinity and application of new technologies for the improvement of stress resistance in dry areas，arid lands communities and socio-economic studies，indigenous/traditional knowledge and heritage. Finally，the paper reviewed the theme of the conference and discussed the coupling relationship among the sustainable management of dryland ecosystems，socio-economic factors and livelihoods. Dryland agro-ecosystems sustainable development has very close relationship with government services and their policy making. As Reynolds and LIU Jianguo in 2007 published the same ideas in Science and it explained that the sustainable development for dryland ecological environment requires livehold participation and must be considered in natural system. In particular，Reynolds discussed that the sustainable development of agriculture in the arid region must the basic premise of the livelihoods of farmers to ensure that the lives of farmers and production in order to effectively implement the sustainable development of the agro-ecological system. Stable ecological environment is also important to maintain the dryland agro-ecosystems as climate changes affect the stability of the ecosystem to some extent. In the process of sustainable development of the dryland agro-ecosystems，the stakeholder theory can be used and it will lead to open up a new direction in research. Stakeholders are most concerned about their own interests to maximize，so it is able to balance the interests of the government，farmers' livelihoods and ecological benefits，allocation and management of natural resources. So stakeholder’s contribution becomes very important in that case. Under climate changes，for the sustainable development of dryland agro-ecosystems，the management methods should be used，these methods should based on advanced agricultural techniques，better market and stability of society and also by combining the characteristics of local cultural，natural and economic values then we can save food and energy resources.

Key words: Climate change, dryland, ecosystem management, sustainability, review